The South Korean Ministry of National Defense “intentionally dropped” mentioning that four more launchers had been deployed for the US’ controversial Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system in a report to South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s top aides, his office said yesterday.
Moon has ordered a probe at the ministry, saying it was “very shocking” the launchers had been brought in without being reported to the new government or to the public, Blue House spokesman Yoon Young-chan said on Tuesday.
The ministry intentionally omitted details about the THAAD system battery in a report last week, when the new government was preparing for Moon’s summit with US President Donald Trump next month, Yoon told a briefing.
“The Blue House has confirmed that the defense ministry has intentionally dropped the introduction of four more launchers in its report,” Yoon said.
Moon took office on May 10 without a transition period because a snap presidential election was held just two months after former South Korean president Park Geun-hye was ousted in a corruption scandal.
Moon inherited his defense minister along with the rest of his Cabinet from the previous administration.
The THAAD battery was initially deployed in March in the southeastern region of Seongju with just two of its maximum load of six launchers to counter a growing North Korean missile threat.
An earlier version of the ministry’s report specified the total number of launchers being prepared for deployment and the name of the US military base where the four were being kept, but the reference was removed in the final version delivered to the Blue House, Yoon said.
The Pentagon said it had been “very transparent” with the South Korean government about THAAD deployment.
During his presidential campaign, Moon called for a parliamentary review of the THAAD system, the deployment of which has infuriated China, North Korea’s only major ally.
Moon had also called for more engagement and dialogue with Pyongyang.
However, North Korea has conducted three intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests since Moon took office, maintaining its accelerated pace of missile and nuclear-related activities since the beginning of last year in defiance of UN sanctions.
In Washington, the US military on Tuesday said it had staged a successful, first-ever missile defense test involving a simulated attack by an ICBM.
“The intercept of a complex, threat-representative ICBM target is an incredible accomplishment ... a critical milestone for this program,” US Missile Defense Agency Director Vice Admiral Jim Syring said in a statement.
Moon’s order of a probe over the THAAD deployment came amid signs of easing tensions between South Korea and China, a major trading partner.
China had been incensed over the THAAD deployment, saying it would do little to deter the missile threat from North Korea, while allowing the US military to use its radar to look deep into its territory and at its own missile systems.
South Korean companies have faced product boycotts and bans on Chinese tourists visiting South Korea, although China has denied discriminating against them.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in